Zeus' death
by iamag.o.a.t
Summary: When you are bored of all the same old stories coming up on nowadays you better checkout this oneshot. revelations of secrets untold. tried to do something new.oneshot


King Zeus of Olympus is the hero of this story. He may be identified as His Highness, Lord of the Sky, the Cloud- gatherer, the Rain-god and Zeus the Thunderer. But this name is often shortened to king Zeus . Now being a child of Athena it is my duty to educate to all those who read this scroll of the only time Zeus paid a visit to tartarus or in other words was defeated and slain by a mere monster. Through ages every person who has come this secret has been either slain or subjected to terror at the hands of Ares, the dumb god (he doesn't reads so I can write whatever I want). I have no intention of pretending to advance in this story only to end in a strategic withdrawal. Even the threat of Ares will not throw me off track. Ares, if he likes, can beat a hasty retreat from my story.

Right at the start, it is imperative to disclose a matter of great import Zeus along with his endless titles also had another title centuries ago, when monsters were more abundant than humans. Zeus was called the dracaenae king. Now to other readers of greek mythology Zeus may seem to you as the best god ever and the deliverer of justice, but that is all the work of my mother editing countless of scripts and books and praising Zeus in each of them, under zeus's orders of course.

The manner of his death is a matter of extraordinary interest. It can be revealed only at the end of the tale. The most fantastic aspect of his demise was that as soon as he was born, the morai had foretold that one day the King would actually have to die. "The child will grow up to become the warrior of warriors, hero of heroes, champion of champions. But..." they bit their lips and swallowed hard. When compelled to continue, the fates came out with it. "This is a secret which should not be revealed at all. And yet we are forced to speak out. The child born under this star will one day have to meet its death."

At that very moment a great miracle took place. An astonishing phrase emerged from the lips of the three-day old Zeus, "O wise morai !'' Everyone stood transfixed in stupefaction. Rhea soon fainted after the debacle/miracle .The fates looked wildly at each other and blinked. ''O wise prophets! It was I who spoke.'' This time there were no grounds for doubt. It was the infant born just three days ago who had enunciated the words so clearly. The children of Ananke took off their hoods and gazed intently at the baby.

''All those who are born will one day have to die. We don't need your predictions to know that. There would be some sense in it if you could tell us the manner of that death,'' the royal infant uttered these words in his little squeaky voice. Clotho (one of the fates) placed her finger on her nose in wonder. A baby barely three days old opens its lips in speech! Not only that, it also raises intelligent questions! Incredible! Clotho took her finger off her nose and fixed her eye upon the little prince. ''The prince was born in the hour of the dragon, but he is a human,part human and part dragon are dracaena, therefore, death comes from a dracaena,'' she explained. You may think that crown prince was thrown into a quake when he heard the word 'dracaena'. That was exactly what did not happen. As soon as he heard it pronounced, the crown prince gave a deep growl. Terrifying words emerged from his lips. ''Let dracaena beware!''

This account is only a rumour rife in Olympus. But with hindsight we may conclude it was based on some truth. Zeus grew taller and stronger day by day. No other miracle marked his childhood days apart from the event already described. The boy soon grew up defeated countless monsters and titans and one day became the king of Olympus. But everyone in the kingdom remembered the fates' prediction. Many continued to discuss the matter. Slowly it came to the Zeus' ears. There were innumerable forests in Greece. They had dracaenas in them. The Zeus knew the old saying, 'Get your redemption first'. There could certainly be no objection to killing dracaena in self-defence. Zeus started out on a dracaenas hunt. Zeus was thrilled beyond measure when he killed his first dracaena. He sent for the fates and showed them the dead beast. ''What do you say now?'' he demanded. ''Your majesty may kill nine hundred ninety-nine dracaena in exactly the same manner. But...'' the fates drawled. ''But what? Speak without fear.'' "But you must be very careful with the thousandth dracaena.'' The Zeus thundered ''What if the thousandth dracaena were also killed?'' ''Then we will tear up our remaining eye, set fire to them, and…'' ''And…'' ''we shall become chew toy to hades' Cerberus,'' clotho finished on an incoherent note with her sisters nodding with her .

From that day onwards it was celebration time for all the dracaena inhabiting Olympus. The State banned dracaena hunting by anyone except king god Zeus. A proclamation was issued to the effect that if anyone dared to fling so much as a stone at a dracaena, all his wealth and property would be confiscated. Zeus vowed he would attend to all other matters only after killing the thousand dracaena. Initially the king seemed well set to realize his ambition. Not that he faced no dangers. There were times when the thunderbolt missed its mark, the dracaena leapt upon him and he fought the beast with his bare hands. Each time it was Zeus who won. At another time he was in danger of losing his throne. When Poseidon and other council gods decided to bind him in a net, courtesy of Hephaestus . But after behaving for some time Zeus again was firm in his resolve. He granted powers and thrones like water to please other gods. ''I am willing to do anything you wish, I am ready to serve your personal domains for a month, But stopping dracaena hunt! That's impossible!'' .This is how Hades got his new wardrobe, Athena got permission to build a library, Poseidon even managed to get his own airloft made near his palace at Olympus. Zeus though considerably low on funds did managed to secure both his throne and hunter's permit. Zeus dracaena hunts continued to be highly successful. Within ten years he was able to kill seven hundred dracaena. And then, an unforeseen hurdle brought his mission to a standstill. The dracaena population became extinct in the forests of Greece. Who knows whether the dracaena practised birth control or committed harakiri? Or simply ran away from the State because they desired to be shot by asian hands alone? One day Zeus sent for Athena his supreme advisor. ''Athena, aren't you aware of the fact that thirty dracaena still remain to be shot down by this bolt of mine?'' he asked brandishing his lightning bolt. Shuddering at the sight of the overpowered godly symbol, the timid god cried out, ''Your Majesty! I am not a dracaena!'' ''Which idiot would call you a dracaena?'' "No, and I'm not a thunderbolt either, so excuse me if I don't want to partake in your less then desirable temptation of hunting dracaena." Replied Athena lips pursed in contempt.

"No Athena it seems that I have exhausted entire dracaena population here in Greece. And as you know we can't venture away from this abode of Greece so I have decided to switch roles and form a new empire with new system of ruling and more dracaena population than this state of Greece." "wouldn't it cause more of a headache" Athena suggested thinking of all the planning and work she would have to do, "I am not interested in building an empire only so you would hunt more dracaena to satisfy your urge to prove the fates wrong." declared Athena before vanishing in a flash.

Disappointed Zeus called Ares and convinced the rockhead to do his bidding in exchange of becoming the leader of war in place of Athena. Soon Zeus turned into Jupiter .Not much changed as Rome thrived and soon overthrew Greece in might and greatness , meanwhile Jupiter kept on his hunting.

Zeus' anxiety reached a fever pitch when there remained just one dracaena to achieve his tally of a thousand. He had this one thought during the day and the same dream at night. By this time the dracaena farms had run dry even in Roman kingdom. It became impossible to locate dracaena anywhere. Yet only one more was needed. If he could kill just that one single beast, Zeus would have no fears left. He could give up dracaena hunting altogether. But he had to be extremely careful with that last dracaena. What had the late fates said? "Even after killing nine hundred ninety-nine dracaena Zeus should beware of the thousandth...'' True enough. The dracaena was a savage beast after all. One had to be wary of it. But where was that thousandth dracaena to be found? It seemed easier to find dracaena's milk than a live dracaena. Thus Zeus was sunk in gloom. But soon came the happy news which dispelled that gloom. Near the roman capital sheep began to disappear frequently from a hillside village. It was first ascertained that this was not the work of cyclopes or any other monster, famed for their ability to swallow sheep whole. Surely, looking at claw marks a dracaena was at work. The villagers ran to inform the king. Zeus announced a three-year exemption from all taxes for that village and set out on the hunt at once. The dracaena was not easily found. It seemed as if it had wantonly hid itself in order to flout Zeus's will. Zeus was equally determined. He refused to leave the forest until the dracaena was found. As the days passed, the Maharaja's fury and obstinacy mounted alarmingly. Many demigods lost their limbs and ears courtesy of the everpresent thunderstorm. The hunter of Artemis' were already exhausted having scoured the forests for more than a month. One day when his rage was at its height, Zeus called Artemis and ordered her to double the patrols forthwith.

''The hunters are already down to their knees and can go no further''mumbled artemis. ''In that case you may resign from your post at the olympus,'' said Zeus. Artemis went to camp convinced that if Zeus did not find the dracaena soon, the results could be catastrophic. She felt life returning to her only when she saw the dracaena which had been brought from England and kept hidden in her tent. At midnight when the town slept in peace, Artemis and her lieutenant Zoe dragged the dracaena to the chariot and shoved it into the carriage bound and sedated. Artemis herself drove the chariot straight to the forest where Zeus was hunting. When they reached the forest the dracaena was dragged and released into the forest. Zoe was thoroughly exhausted in her efforts to haul the beast out of the chariot and drag it to the depths of the forest while Artemis kept a lookout. On the following day, the same old dracaena wandered into the Zeus' presence and stood as if in humble supplication, "Master, what do you command of me?'' It was with boundless joy that Zeus took careful aim at the beast and fired his bolt. The dracaena fell in a crumpled heap. ''I have killed the thousandth dracaena. My vow has been fulfilled,'' Zeus was overcome with elation. Ordering the gold dust of dracaena to be brought to the capital in grand procession, Zeus hastened away to his palace. After Zeus left, the hunters went to take a closer look at the dracaena. The dracaena looked back at them rolling its eyes in bafflement. The girls realised that the dracaena was not dead; the bolt had missed it. It had fainted from the shock of the bullet whizzing past. The hunters wondered what they should do. They decided that Zeus must not come to know that he had missed his target. If he did, they could lose their lives. One of the hunters took aim from a distance of one foot and shot the dracaena which soon crumbled to dust. This time she killed it without missing her mark. As commanded by the king, the dead remains ( a toenail) were taken in procession through the town and buried. A tomb was erected over it. A few days later the Zeus' son's (one of countless worthless demigod) third birthday was celebrated. Until then Zeus had given his entire mind over to dracaena hunting. He had had no time to spare for bragging about his latest addition to the family. But now the king turned his attention to the child. He wished to give him some special gift on his birthday. He went to the shopping centre in Olympus and searched every shop, but couldn't find anything suitable. Finally he spotted a stygian- mythril alloy dracaena in a toyshop and decided it was the perfect gift. The dracaena cost only two drachmas. But the shopkeeper knew that if he quoted such a low price to the Zeus, he would be punished for declaring Zeus' choice as unsavory . So, he said, ''Your Majesty, this is an extremely rare example of craftsmanship. A bargain at three hundred drachmas!'' ''Very good. Let this be your offering to the demigod prince on his birthday,'' said Zeus and took it away with him. On that day father and son played with that tiny little dracaena. It had been carved by an unskilled craftsman. Its surface was rough; tiny slivers of alloy stood up like quills all over it. One of those slivers pierced Zeus' right hand. He pulled it out with his left hand and continued to play with the demigod. The next day, infection flared in the Zeus' right hand. In four days, it developed into a suppurating sore which spread all over the arm. Three famous surgeons under Apollo's watch were brought in from Rome. After holding a consultation they decided to operate. The operation took place. The three surgeons who performed it came out of the theatre and announced, "The operation was successful. Zeus is dead." In this manner the thousandth dracaena took its final revenge upon the Zeus.

Zeus regenerated a century later and never tried his luck with fates again.


End file.
